IOWA CITY, Iowa — Writing in his journal in 1986, American artist Keith Haring remarked on the impact that being a teacher had had on his life and work. His reflection also explained the birth of his iconic “Radiant Baby” figure.
When I was 21, I spent a summer teaching “Art” at a day-care center in Brooklyn. It was the most fulfilling summer of my life. There is nothing that makes me happier than making a child smile. The reason that the “baby” has become my logo or signature is that it is the purest and most positive experience of human existence.
From his earliest days as a street artist, Haring used the now-legendary symbol to tag the charcoal-colored paper that covered expired advertisements in the New York City subway tunnels. He also used it on his official letterhead.
To My Friends at Horn: Keith Haring and Iowa City at the Stanley Museum of Art centers Haring’s relationships with teachers and young artists, demonstrating how they influenced his work with communities well beyond New York City. The exhibition, curated by Diana Tuite, situates his correspondence with another art teacher, Colleen Ernst, side by side with a mural that he painted in 1989 for Ernest Horn Elementary School of cartoonishly rendered human and animal characters on a white background, punctuated by vibrant splashes of color.
While the large mural is the magnum opus of the exhibition, it highlights various other works by Haring, including “Totem” (1989), his video performance “Painting Myself Into a Corner” (1979), his “Ignorance = Fear, Silence = Death” lithograph, and the untitled tarp mural he completed for the University of Iowa in his 1984 residency. Framed doodles of a spotted dog and two variations on his signature “radiant baby” — one of an elongated, crawling baby surrounded by radiating lines and another of a stretched baby reaching to the heavens — are intermixed with the more well-known artworks. The interplay between familiar works, private doodles that he made for students or friends, the letters lovingly faxed to Ernst, and candid photos of him painting as the schoolchildren look on, display the true depth of his generosity and continued commitment to teaching.
To My Friends at Horn provides an intimate window into an artist’s network of friends, family, fellow artists, and fans. Timelines weave between the posters, paintings, prints, doodles, and videos to join Haring’s epistolary friendships with his art and biography — including his fight for AIDS research before his death from AIDS-related complications in 1990. The show is a reminder that context illuminates the impact of the artist and activist. Art and artists do not exist in a vacuum, and Haring knew this well. He saved letters, journals, and drawings for the students of the future, all while working with them in his present. This is a small exhibition in terms of actual works, but in the end it is not so much about tangible objects, but rather relationships and the perennial power of pedagogy.
To My Friends at Horn: Keith Haring and Iowa City continues at the Stanley Museum of Art (160 West Burlington Street, Iowa City, Iowa) through January 7, 2025. The exhibition was curated by Diana Tuite.
